Game Description: Experience some of the most outrageous and over-the-top racing action ever in this blistering, high octane driving game. Trigger jaw-dropping levels of devastation and destruction as you compete for fame and glory on an explosive racing-based reality show. Battle the computer or challenge your friends online in one of the most thrilling racing games of this generation.

Split/Second Review

Set in a fake reality TV show, arcade-style racing title Split/Second offers plenty of thrills and big explosions. It has some stumbles, but overall, it's a great high-octane thrill ride.

The Pros

A gleefully competitive and fun action racer

Presentation ripped straight from a primetime ABC show

Great-looking stages designed with tension around every corner

The Cons

Cheap rubberband AI renders your skills impotent

Stage recycling becomes more noticeable the longer you play

Certain side games aren't as strong as core racing

Black Rock Studio’s Split/Secondcomes at a curious time for racing games. Forza Motorsport 3is still holding down the fort for simulation. Need for Speed: Shift marked a return to form for the ailing series. Two more racing games, ModNation Racers and Blur, both come out at the same time as Split/Second and offer different variations on kart racing. Amidst these other games, S/S fills the niche for arcade-based racers nicely. It’s not the best game to come along in the genre, but it’ll satisfy your jones for destructively competitive racing for now.

All This…On the Next Split/Second!

S/S’ plot offers a unique take on racing games. Unlike so many titles that weave a loose narrative around racing tournaments, S/S’ barebones story is warmly enveloped within a credible scenario. You’re participating in a reality show in which you’re driving around a massive studio set racing against the clock, wannabe participants, and at the end of each “episode,” a variety of elite drivers with American Gladiator-like handles such as “The Hammer” and “Vixen.” Credible, you say? It sounds a bit off until you fire up a new episode and the announcer previews the events you’ll endure. It hits home even more during the end credits, which feel authentic to the point that you’d imagine watching “Split/Second: The Show" on Disney-owned ABC. I found the season finale to be a bit sour in its ending -- it telegraphs a sequel with all the predictability of a Von Kaiser punch -- but others in the office loved it. Go figure.

Aside from S/S’ presentation hook, the gameplay is designed around using explosive elements on the set to stop your opponents from getting an edge on you. That usually consists of triggering an explosion that collapses a structure onto their car. In that sense, it’s tactically different from the likes of the Burnout series, since there’s less physicality involved in downing your adversaries. S/S rewards you more for tactical maneuvers and less for brutish bullying on the course. Aggressive techniques, like trying to smash others into guardrails, aren’t nearly as effective as letting your opponent squeeze ahead, then triggering a massive explosion that takes him or her out of the race.

The charm of S/S’ reality show approach wouldn’t have nearly the impact it does without amazing visuals. Although I could’ve done with a few better visual indicators of impending danger on a few stages, Black Rock’s approach to crafting a well-designed hazard trap is quite commendable. The stages feel lively, tense, and diverse in theme, from Hoover Dam-like reservoirs to airports full of corridors, hairpin turns, and impending peril. And they look great. Like the studio’s previous effort, 2008’s sleeper hit PURE, S/S is clean-looking and aesthetically pleasant.

Throughout S/S’ episodes, you face challenges beyond vanilla racing in the quest to crack into the Elite races that mark the end of each stage. It’s here that S/S wavers a bit in quality. Air Strike, in which a chopper fires one-hit-kill missiles at your car while you swerve to avoid them, is frustrating, and while I adjusted to its quirks over a few episodes, I still gritted my teeth every time a challenge came up. Elimination, which resembles the same mode in Burnout Revenge, doesn’t execute as well as Criterion’s game. That’s partly because S/S’ deepest core issue -- rubberband AI -- gives you myriad chances to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Rubberbands Make You Snap

Driver AI is truly the monolithic stumble that separates S/S from hitting the standards set by other genre staples. As I discovered over the dozen hours I invested in races, upgrades, and grinding for more win points to unlock better cars, it’s a spectacular game that’s ultimately handicapped by cheap AI and some harsh difficulties. Few things serve to undermine the player experience more than the methods by which S/S punishes you for small mistakes, like wrecking on a sharp drift that other games would permit or blowing a 3 second lead in first place at the finish line because of your drift. It’s amazingly easy to go from the lead to seventh in, well, a split second, regardless of your skill level and quality of vehicle. The AI just doesn’t feel well-tweaked enough, and you’ll experience some legitimately aggravating moments throughout.

Yet for the frustrations, S/S is at its most effective when you’re in the heat of a race and avoid its numerous death traps. Though I’d like to have seen more variety in stages -- just past the halfway point, the luster starts to fade a bit when you’re in the same race type on the same stage you did at the game’s start and it could’ve used more of the dramatically destructive “alternate routes” -- there’s a real charm to the proceedings. Aside from the ABC/Disney analogy regarding presentation, there are many harrowing hazard moments that evoke the sort of narrow-miss scares you’d see on a Disneyland thrill ride. It’s in those small sections that S/S hits the peak of its potential.

S/S offers online multiplayer for up to 8 players. It’s fairly standard stuff, in the sense that you’ll have the same race types offered up for competitive play. Without the trappings of cheap AI, racing is even more tense and cutthroat against other players. There are some caveats, though. If you spin out (rare as it was for me), it’s hard to turn around and get back on track, which others in the office reported. Also, for some reason, online car selection restricts you to what you’ve unlocked in single player, so until you’ve done your grinding to acquire cars, you’ll be at a handicap against other racers. Generally, though, it performed well, and there’s incentive to play and win, since your racing rank and number function both online and in the single-player season.

I Hope It Gets Renewed for Another Season

There’s no shortage of fresh racing titles on the market right now. From last fall’s sims to this spring’s kart racers, there’s something to play. Split/Second falls short of the heights set by the Burnout series, but as viciously competitive arcade racers go, it’s a fun and entertaining diversion. Since the finale shows no compunction about offering up a sequel, I’m excited for a new installment that builds on this strong foundation. From the excellent TV-driven presentation to its passive-aggressive approach to crippling your opponents, it’s an exciting thrill ride that’s worth your time investment.

Comments are Closed

xbox 360 demo (tried on game stop demo 360) good ps3 full game total crap. ai is very cheap. you try to knock them around and they don't even budge but they tap you and you practically hit the wall 15 ft away. you have a better chance of stopping an out of control train with a smart car than beating the ai. retarded game. my rating -3 out of 10

loved the demo, but since im not a huge4 racing fan ill wait for a price drop before i get it, but i will definately be getting it sooner or later....and just to add my two cents, i loved this game way more the blur

Grid has good drifting but the cars need more weight to them. It would be more fun in racing too. You can't even really bump into another racer and keep going in straight line. Grid takes some getting used to, it's great to put a game in and just play it. Instead of pounding away at it which is no fun. Split Second handles as good as Burnout and Need For Speed. That's the good Need For Speed. To me all games need to have vehicles that have a quality weight feel to them and keep the arcade style gameplay.

This is a great game. Vehicles handle like they have some weight to them. It is a beautiful game but does have some rough edges. A.I. is odd but second place is good enough, the rest or the game makes up for it. Blowing the damn really is impressive, makes a nice waterfall. The destruction is awesome too.I wish you could add more laps in quick race, 2-3 isn't enough. I would love to see another Pure. It's like SSX on 4 wheelers. Black Rock makes sweet games.

The game is completely flawed. Even though it looks stunning, it's inexcusable driving and AI makes for an almost unplayable game. Though the game tries to throw you some bones by "mini-gaming" the carp out of you, it still makes it impossible to over look the fundamental flaws.

Entering a turn in a lap, you could find yourself drifting for what seems like an infinite amount of time meanwhile, a lesser car comes along and goes through and past you with no bother other than you in his way. Then he can lightly tap you and crash you, even though you can bluntly ram him and not do a thing to change his direction. It makes no difference in the car you drive almost, as you'll be beaten every time for what seems a ridiculous amount of times. (I've played the same track now in Skids over 50 times and have not placed higher than 3rd.)

The cars have no realistic handling and compared to an established game like Need For Speed, this is not something you can over look. Even BurnOut is more realistic in handling than this. The laughable excuse for a rating system supposedly on the cars can be thrown out as they all handle about the same and you'll find yourself screaming at how your car managed to do a 180 on it's own somehow.

This is another shining example of how no matter how good your graphics look, if the game doesn't play right, your screwed. And the plot of a TV show, makes the game annoying. I like how the game shouts the "show" aspect at you in volume, but when you race, turn up your volume. The distracting Power Plays give no creditability to game play as apparently, your enemies can just avoid them if they feel like it ("the barrel dropped right on him and he kept going?! WTF!?") and it really can make no difference in game play other than to screw you over at the end of a race.

The rating G4 has given this game is basically a buyout. It's too high. I give it a 2 out of 5. Wait till you can get it used from GameStop for 5.99 and then, only get it for a laugh. I'll be trading my copy in for Blur and saying goodbye to this game from my library for good.

this games graphics and whole idea is amazing but the driving system is crap the drifting is horible and the ai system makes u feel like every car is a tank when the pull up along side of them. this game would be so more amazing with realistic driving system all in all its a good game but i wouldnt recommend buying it until its down to 20$ or 30$

Even if I had the money to grab this game as well I feel it's more for casual racers which relates to the ability to take out the cars in the lead/rubberband AI. I prefer arcade to simulation racers but my perfect balance is a game like GRID. I might pick the game up later to support the devs though.

another good idea gone too waste. This game has no balance. If your looking for a good online racer this definitely isn't it. unless you wanna pay extra to unlock cars early to even think about contending with anyone. Blur's beta was better than this full game.... smh